Toyota Developing GT86 For Return to Britcar Endurance Race

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Toyota is returning to the Britcar 24 Hours in September, running the endurance race in paint livery reminiscent of the AE86 Corolla that twice won the British Touring Car Championship in the 1980s.

The car is competing in the Production Class of the endurance race. Team Toyota GB sent the GT86 to GPRM in Buckinghamshire for race preparation, the same race prep team behind the successful BTCC Toyota Avensis.

Leading the GPRM team is Gary Blackham, who has high hopes for the car that will remain relatively stock given its performance-biased factory setup. “The new Toyota has all the makings of a great production class racer. We are concentrating our efforts on stripping back the chassis, lightening and strengthening it and of course equipping it with a roll cage and all the other safety gear required, as well as quick-refuelling equipment. ”

The Britcar 24 Hours is the only full-day, around-the-clock endurance race of its kind in the UK for sports-cars. It is run over the weekend of September 23rd, and last year attracted 55 cars to the grid.

The GT86 is virtually identical to the Scion FR-S sold over here. It’s 200 hp should make it quite competitive and a nice throwback to the Team Toyota GB Corolla AE86 that dominated rallying and touring car in the 1980s.

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